Taj ul-Alam
Encyclopedia
Ratu Safiatuddin Taj ul-Alam (died 1675) was the fourteenth sultana of Aceh. She was the daughter of the sultan Iskandar Muda
and the wife of his successor, Iskandar Thani
, who became sultan upon the death of her husband. She was the first of four women to hold the position, thanks to the efforts of the Acehnese nobility to weaken royal power following Iskandar Muda's administrative reforms aimed to undermine them. These efforts were largely successful, and from her reign on the sultanate became a weak symbolic institution, whose authority was limited to capital city itself, while real power was held by the hereditary rulers of outlying districts (the uleëbalang set up by Iskandar Muda) and the religious leaders (imam
or ulama
).
Taj ul-Alam inherited a tradition of Islam
ic scholarship in the court. She was not as favorable to Nuruddin ar-Raniri
as her predecessor, and he left the royal employ in 1644. The major writer in her reign was Abdurrauf of Singkil, who wrote on Shafi'i
jurisprudence as well as mysticism. Towards the end of her reign, the reputation of the court as a center of Islam
ic scholarship had faded along with its political fortunes.
Iskandar Muda
Iskandar Muda was the twelfth Sultan of Aceh, under whom the sultanate achieved its greatest territorial extent, and was the strongest power and wealthiest state in the western Indonesian archipelago and the Strait of Malacca. "Iskandar Muda" literally means "young Alexander," and his conquests...
and the wife of his successor, Iskandar Thani
Iskandar Thani
Iskandar Thani Alauddin Mughayat Syah was the thirteenth sultan of Aceh, following the powerful Iskandar Muda. Iskandar Thani was the son of the sultan of Pahang, Ahmad Syah, who was brought to Aceh in the conquest of Pahang in 1617 by Iskandar Muda...
, who became sultan upon the death of her husband. She was the first of four women to hold the position, thanks to the efforts of the Acehnese nobility to weaken royal power following Iskandar Muda's administrative reforms aimed to undermine them. These efforts were largely successful, and from her reign on the sultanate became a weak symbolic institution, whose authority was limited to capital city itself, while real power was held by the hereditary rulers of outlying districts (the uleëbalang set up by Iskandar Muda) and the religious leaders (imam
Imam
An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...
or ulama
Ulama
-In Islam:* Ulema, also transliterated "ulama", a community of legal scholars of Islam and its laws . See:**Nahdlatul Ulama **Darul-uloom Nadwatul Ulama **Jamiatul Ulama Transvaal**Jamiat ul-Ulama -Other:...
).
Taj ul-Alam inherited a tradition of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic scholarship in the court. She was not as favorable to Nuruddin ar-Raniri
Nuruddin ar-Raniri
Nuruddin ibn Ali ar-Raniri was an Islamic scholar from Gujarat, India, who worked for several years in the court of the sultan of Aceh in what is now Indonesia...
as her predecessor, and he left the royal employ in 1644. The major writer in her reign was Abdurrauf of Singkil, who wrote on Shafi'i
Shafi'i
The Shafi'i madhhab is one of the schools of fiqh, or religious law, within the Sunni branch of Islam. The Shafi'i school of fiqh is named after Imām ash-Shafi'i.-Principles:...
jurisprudence as well as mysticism. Towards the end of her reign, the reputation of the court as a center of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic scholarship had faded along with its political fortunes.